1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image input-output apparatus which is capable of recording, as to executed jobs, job events each including information on a user who executed a job and date and time of execution of the job, an image input-output method, and a job event-recording system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with widespread use of printers and digital multifunction apparatuses as image input-output apparatuses, it has become easier for anyone to perform printing, copying, and transmission of originals. Such newly-emerged input-output apparatuses are improved in userfriendliness of the apparatuses, but on the other hand, a new problem has occurred that printing, copying, or transmission of confidential documents can cause information leakage.
To prevent this information leakage, there has been proposed a digital multifunction apparatus in which job events are cumulatively recorded in a storage (recording) device whenever a job, such as printing, copying, facsimile transmission, or e-mail transmission, is executed.
A job event includes information on a user who executed the job, information on the job execution date and time, information for specifying the digital multifunction apparatus which executed the job (e.g. IP address, or a serial number of the apparatus), information on an executed job type, etc. Further, the job event may include image data generated by converting an input image into data, or reduced image data generated by reducing the image data.
A job event-recording system is comprised of a plurality of the above-described digital multifunction apparatuses and a server. A database is constructed on the server. Job events recorded in the digital multifunction apparatuses are transferred to the database and are recorded therein.
Since it is necessary for such a digital multifunction apparatus or a job event-recording system to be configured to have a large recording area, there has been proposed a technique which suppresses an increase in the required recording capacity (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-330939).
Further, to prevent information leakage, there is a demand to record only designated types of jobs, such as facsimile transmission to the outside, or e-mail transmission of image data which is scanned by the digital multifunction apparatus.
Let it be assumed that an auditor designates a job type to be recorded in advance to the job event-recording system meeting this demand. Only in case where the designated job type is executed, the digital multifunction apparatus records a job event and transmits the same to the server.
Some of the digital multifunction apparatuses, for example, have an area which is internally provided for storing image data and has a name, such as a user box, given thereto, and have functions of reusing and transmitting the image data stored in the user box by facsimile or e-mail.
In a case where job events of facsimile transmission or e-mail transmission are recorded in the digital multifunction apparatus having the above-mentioned functions, there is a demand to record not only job events at respective output times, but also job events at respective times when image data items are stored in the user box, for tracking events of image data items.
However, to track events of image data items, it becomes necessary to store, in the server, job events of all jobs in which image data items are reusably stored in the digital multifunction apparatus, e.g. in the above-mentioned user box thereof, in addition to jobs of the designated job types. For this reason, a problem that the storage capacity required for the server to construct the database increases, which brings about the problem of an increase in the costs of the server.
Further, load put on a network at the time of transfer from the digital multifunction apparatus to the server, or load on the server in which the database is provided increases.
Further, the information leakage auditor conducts an audit by searching the recorded image data items or information on the job events. However, if the not only job events of jobs of the designated job types, but also those of all input jobs which introduced reusable image data are recorded, the job event-recording system is required to perform the following processes, which makes the searching process complicated.
That is, it becomes necessary to execute, for example, processes for executing a full-text search by a keyword on the job events recorded in the database, determining on each of image data items hit by the search whether or not it is among the designated job types, adding information on the hit image data item to a result list if it is among the designated job types, whereas if it is not among the designated job types but it is an input job, determining on the hit image data item whether or not any designated job type is executed thereon, and if any designated job type is executed thereon, adding information on the hit image data item to the result list.
As described above, in a case where job events of jobs other than those of designated job types are stored in the database, due to the large number of image data items to be searched, and complexity of the search process, there arises a problem that it takes a long time to perform the search.